MCB Camp Pendleton (By MC2 Elliott Fabrizio) - The preliminaries of the 2012 Armed Forces Boxing Championship are complete and the Army team has seven fighters going to the finals on Feb. 3.
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. is hosting the Armed Forces Sports event this year.
In the current standings the Marines are tied with the Army, but the outcome of the finals will determine if the Army team can continue their winning streak taking team gold in 2012.
In the classic match-up of Army vs. Navy, Army Pvt. Marquis Moore entered into a brutal slugfest with newcomer Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) Airman Daniel Silva. Despite hammering blows leading to a several knockdowns, Silva kept getting up, but ultimately experience won out and Moore took the match 31-17.
Moore fights in the 165lb. weight class.
Army Spc. Steven Nelson took the fight directly to Air Force Tech Sgt. Thomas Jacob, driving clean punches straight into Jacobs face every time he saw a shred of an opening leading to a win 20-8. Nelson is in the 178lb. weight class.
Returning 2011 Armed Forces gold-medalist Sgt. Charles Blackwell sent Navy Corpsman Brandon Wicker’s head spinning with thundering hooks and savaged through the bout to a 13-10 victory. Blackwell represents the Army in the 201lb. weight class.
Another returning gold-medalist, Sgt. Toribio Ramirez, brawled it out with Airman 1st. Class Dustin Southichack, coming out on top for a 17-12 victory. Ramirez fights in the 132lb. weight class.
Ramirez and Blackwell can both expect deja vu Friday as they face the same opponents for gold they fought in the 2011 Championship.
In 2011, Ramirez trailed Marine Cpl. Tommy Roque by a wide point margin, but rallied in the last round to edge him out for the gold medal. Blackwell and Senior Airman Kent Brinson mashed each other with power punches to the point of mutual exhaustion, but Blackwell came out on top.
The Army took two losses in the preliminaries.
Army Pfc. Maxamino Ramos couldn’t catch a solid bead on the agile footwork of Marine Sgt. Jamel Herring, losing to Jamel’s stick-and-move style 22-3. Ramos fights in the 141lb weight class.
Army Spc. Sidney Williams got put to bed when Marine Lance Cpl. Jonathan Steel turned up the heat in the second round with an all-out onslaught leading to a loss for Williams by referee stopped contest.
In the coming finals the Army assumes the role of defending champion with two fighters defending their title and the entire team seeking to continue holding the team award.
The Pentagon Channel is capturing all the action from the championship and the 2012 boxing series will premier March 9.